A 7-month multi-disciplinary healthy lifestyle intervention effectively improved cardiometabolic risk profile of firefighters.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of a 7-month healthy lifestyle intervention on cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) among male career military firefighters (FFs). METHODS: 49 FFs participated in a 7-month workplace multi-disciplinary healthy lifestyle intervention designed to reduce CMRF through exercise, diet, and improved sleep. Medical assessments, accelerometry, and surveys at the beginning and end determined program effectiveness. RESULTS: At the end of the intervention period, there was a significant improvement in measures of body composition and blood glucose. The prevalence of hypertension also decreased significantly (p < 0.01). The 57% of participants who fully adhered to the program had significantly greater improvements across multiple CMRF. Participants increased their physical activity and improved their diet following the intervention. CONCLUSION: This healthy lifestyle intervention was effective in changing behavior and lowering cardiometabolic risk among FFs.

Role of plasma PlGF, PDGF-AA, ANG-1, ANG-2, and the ANG-1/ANG-2 ratio as predictors of preeclampsia in a cohort of pregnant women.

INTRODUCTION: Preeclampsia affects 3-5% of pregnancies worldwide and is the primary cause of maternal-fetal and neonatal mortality. Previous studies show that alterations in maternal concentrations of angiogenic factors, such as PlGF, PDGF AA, ANG-1, and ANG-2, may play fundamental roles in the pathophysiology of the disease. OBJECTIVE: Determine whether the PlGF, PDGF AA, ANG-1, and ANG-2 are predictors of preeclampsia occurrence in a prenatal cohort study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a case-control study associated with a prospective cohort of pregnant women, with gestational ages between 20 and 25 weeks, composed of 30 pregnant women with preeclampsia (PE) and 90 healthy pregnant women (HP). The plasma concentrations of the markers were determined using the ELISA method. The comparison between the case and control groups was performed using the t test on the SAS® 9.4 software. Also, ROC curves were constructed to evaluate the predictive potential of the biomarkers. RESULTS: Differences in the concentrations of PlGF, PDGF AA, ANG-1 and ANG-2, and the ANG-1/ANG-2 ratio were not observed between the PE and the HP groups. The predictive capacity of the biomarkers was assessed using ROC curves, in which the area under the curve for PlGF AUC = 0.55; PDGF AA AUC = 0.55; ANG-1 AUC = 0.47; ANG-2 AUC = 0.51, and the ANG-1/ANG-2 ratio AUC = 0.57. CONCLUSION: In pregnant women, with gestational ages between 20 and 25 weeks significant differences in biomarker concentrations between groups PE and HP were not observed. The ROC curves showed that the biomarkers were ineffective as preeclampsia predictors in the analyzed cohort.

Profile and regulation of annexin II expression during early embryogenesis in cattle / Perfil e regulação da expressão da anexina II durante a embriogênese em bovinos

The presence of annexin II (Ann-II) during the initial stages of bovine embryo development and the regulation of Ann-II expression by retinol and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) were studied. Bovine embryos at different stages of development were produced in vitro on Synthetic Oviductal Fluid (SOF) medium (control group), SOF supplemented with retinol (retinol group; 0.1ng/ml), or IGF-I (IGF-I group; 10ng/ml). The embryos were processed for mRNA extraction, cDNA production and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using Ann-II-specific oligonucleotides. Ann-II was detected in all stages of early embryo development, except for the 16-cell stage. The blastocyst rates were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the group supplemented with retinol (37.8 percent, 45/119) during in vitro embryo culture (IVC) than in those cultured in SOF (20.5 percent, 24/117) or SOF with IGF-I (25.8 percent, 24/93). Semiquantitative analysis of Ann-II expression in embryos produced in medium supplemented with IGF-I or retinol revealed a lower expression of this gene when compared with embryos cultured in SOF (P<0.05). The Ann-II expression was not different in embryos cultured in the presence of retinol and IGF-I. The presence of retinol increased the production of embryos in vitro by decreasing the expression of Ann-II in early-stage of bovine embryo

Foram estudadas a presença de anexina II (Ann-II) durante a fase inicial do desenvolvimento embrionário bovino e sua regulação pelo retinol e pelo fator de crescimento semelhante à insulina (IGF-I). Embriões bovinos em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento foram produzidos in vitro em fluido sintético de oviduto (SOF) sem suplementação (grupo-controle) ou suplementado com retinol (grupo retinol; 0,1ng/ml medium) ou IGF-I (grupo IGF-I; 10 ng/ml de meio). Os embriões foram processados para extração de mRNA, produção de cDNA e posterior análise por reação em cadeia da polimerase (PCR) com oligonucleotídeos específicos para Ann-II. Em todos os estádios de desenvolvimento embrionário, Ann-II foi detectada, exceto no estádio de 16 células. Os índices de blastocisto foram significativamente maiores (P<0,05) no grupo suplementado com retinol (37,8 por cento, 45/119) durante o cultivo in vitro de embriões (PIV) que aqueles obtidos no grupo controle (20,5 por cento, 24/117) ou no IGF-I (25,8 por cento, 24/93). Análise semiquantitativa da expressão de Ann-II em embriões produzidos em meio suplementado com IGF-I ou retinol revelou uma menor expressão desse gene quando comparado com embriões cultivados somente em SOF (P<0,05). A expressão de Ann-II não foi diferente em embriões cultivados na presença de retinol e IGF-I. A presença de retinol aumentou a produção de embriões in vitro, e diminuiu a expressão de Ann-II em estádios iniciais do desenvolvimento embrionário bovino